At Sea Day #7: Travel Reading & 2 Special Meals on the Way to Gibraltar

April 8, 2019

ABOARD COSTA PACIFICA IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN – Experienced a gorgeous day sailing along the Moroccan coast from the Canary Islands toward the Strait of Gibraltar today. Got a lot of travel reading done for my upcoming European destinations as well as some other work. Spanish cuisine was offered outside for lunch, and tonight was the farewell gala dinner.

Got up at 7:55 a.m. aboard Costa Pacifica. Damnit, I just slept 13 hours. I am now back on normal time – but a few days before I desired. And we lose an hour today.

Read the cruise newsletter, then headed up to the excellent breakfast service in the New York New York dining room. Went outside at 10:10 to continue reading Lonely Planet’s Budapest & Hungary guidebook. Mom and I will be exploring our ancestral homeland next month.

Reading about Hungary during Costa Pacifica At Sea Day #7

At 11 a.m., we experienced the final time change of the voyage, one hour forward from GMT+1 (Western European Summer Time) to GMT+2 (Central European Standard Time). I reset my watch to noon.

Today’s featured lunch outside by the pool was Spanish cuisine. I enjoyed some delicious paella.

Spanish lunch outside during Costa Pacifica At Sea Day #7

Worked on calendar tasks inside, then back outside. What a sunny, beautiful day as we sail toward the Strait of Gibraltar. Finished the Hungary book, then continued the Romania guidebook. I’ll be there after Hungary next month.

Reading about Romania & Bulgaria during Costa Pacifica At Sea Day #7 — Reading about Romania during Costa Pacifica At Sea Day #7

Down to my cabin at 5 p.m. I was feeling sleepy and trying to figure out what to do next. Rested and watched “NCIS,” then dragged myself up top to jog minutes.

Went to the Deck 4 conference room to scan documents, sort files on my laptop, and copy recent photos to the computer. Put together photos for a French Polynesia blog posting.

Tonight was the farewell gala dinner in the New York New York dining room. The menu was small, but the food was good.

Farewell gala dinner: appetizer
Farewell gala dinner: pasta course
Farewell gala dinner: main course
Farewell gala dinner: dessert

Got ready for bed. Read the cruise newsletter, sorted today’s photos, and watched another episode of “NCIS.” Bed at 11:12 p.m.

Tomorrow we’ll arrive in our final port of call on this 17-night Caribbean and trans-Atlantic cruise, the United Kingdom territory of Gibraltar. I’m excited as this will be a new territory for me.